rvbffandomcom-20200214-history
(PF: R) Arkansas
Agent Arkansas, real name Ty Griffin, nicknamed''' Ark''' by everyone else, and various girls names by Carolina, is a member of Project Freelancer: Rebirth. He serves as one of the sharpshooters. During any story that stars Carolina as a protaganist, he seems to take on the roll as deuteragonist or tritaganist. He is the main protaganist of one story, Sins of the Past. Backstory Agent Arkansas was born on March 25th, 2729 in the streets of England to an unknown mother and father. He was left on the doorstep of the town's orphanage, where he remained for another eighteen years. He lived alone with the kind caretakers and other orphans, which didn't last long as he would often venture off on his own and get into trouble. Notably, Ty supposedly dropped "off the grid" for three years following his seventeenth birthday, but reappeared a week before his twentieth. No one knows what happened to him, but he didn't seem as trusting around others afterward. In reality, Ty signed up with the Insurrection in hopes of receiving a better life. For a time, it seemed to have worked, and he quickly worked through the ranks for his skill with long ranged precision and medium ranged carnage. He eventually caught the sight of a high ranking rebel commander by the name of Elijah Grey, who personally made him his second-in-command. This lasted until Ty was about to turn twenty, when Elijah ran an idea by him he didn't like. Elijah responded with a later staged ambush and attempted murder, shooting Ty through his left eye. On his twentieth birthday, Ty joined the UNSC in order to "do some good with his life." He quickly found a niche as a sharpshooter and CQB specialist, especially with knives and his custom-made bolt-action sniper rifle. After training, Ty went on a long-term tour of the galaxy, aging nine years. Eventually, his skill reached the ears of the Director of Project Freelancer: Rebirth, who personally sent an invitation to join the program. Ty accepted and went through orientation. He passed and became Agent Arkansas. The Director eventually lets Arkansas know that his grandfather was still alive, and residing on Earth. Getting time off, Ark traveled there as soon as possible and reunited with his long lost relative, who explained what happened to his parents and why he couldn't take care of him. As a parting gift when Ark's time off went out, Griffin passed on his old AI, Tau. Project Freelancer: Rebirth The Tryouts Unexpected Training Session The Director's Creation Operation: AI Memorial A New Task Arkansas' Darkside: The Price of Revenge The Beginning A day or so after York's death, Connecticut, Maine, and Arkansas were tasked with removing insurrectionist forces from a vital UNSC Oil Platform. During the briefing, the Director says to use any force necessary but to spare the workers if possible. As the other agents left, the Director asked Arkansas to stay. Then, he let it slip that Arkansas knew the man leading the insurrectionists, and hints that he nearly killed Arkansas in the past. Ark grows cold and nods before leaving. Along the way to the planet, Maine and Arkansas bicker while CT looks on. He silently notes that Ark seems to have become more aggressive, nearly on par with Texas, since the Director asked him to stay. They land and make their way to the plant, eliminating any rebels along the way. Upon entering the general vicinity, the man leading the insurrectionists announces that they have company, and that he'll kill them himself should they retreat. Revelations Arkansas decides that then is a good time to reveal a ten year secret. As the team neared a bridge, Ark tells them he needs to get something off his chest. Maine watches on silently as Ark says that the man in charge is named Elijah Gray, and that he and Ty (Ark) worked together a long time ago, having been leaders of a Insurrectionist force. They were best friends until Gray decided that they higher freshly released prisoners for "cheaper labor", but Ty refused, saying they were "bloody menaces". Upon John's refusal, Gray had Ty's personal guard restrain him while he beat him to a pulp. Gray then proceeded to shoot him in the head at point blank range. CT voices skeptisism, distrust, and amazement that Arkansas - the apparently not-so-physically strong and happy-go-lucky sniper - survived a gunshot. Ty defends his hatred for Gray, and explains that the "most stubborn of people can survive anything...rage is a hell of an anesthetic." The three proceed into the oil factory, where Gray appears and mocks Arkansas for going "good" despite his crimes. Ark reaches for his assault rifle, but Gray points out that he has height and numbers, and dares Ark to give him a reason to gun him down again. Ark darts forward, aiming for a gas pipe behind Marco. The rebel leader mocks the Freelancer's eye sight, before Ark says "fry, you son of a bitch!" and shoots the pipe. The pipe explodes, wounding Gray and killing off several rebels. Ark begins slamming the butt of his gun against the main gas line, causing a rupture and opening a way to catch up to Gray. "True" Personality CT, enraged that Arkansas was being careless, berates him for risking the lives of the workers there, but the younger Freelancer dismisses his concerns and remains adament that his former partner dies. Maine proceeds to punch Ark in the face and a fight nearly breaks out before CT manages to extinguish the fire between them and they proceed on. CT's point is proven later on, as a worker who managed to escape appears on a catwalk above them, and requests help in shutting off the valves, as the flames have spread and risk the destruction of the entire plant. Although Arkansas is open for leaving the civillians to die and going after his former partner, CT has Maine intimidate the younger agent into following them to turn off the valves, much to his displeasure. They succeed in saving the platform and reach the landing pad. Catching Up Arkansas, Connecticut and Maine arrive in time to see Gray escape in a dropship, mocking their decision and telling Ark he'd "see him in another ten years". Ark rushes to the edge of the platform, firing and shouting in anger. He runs out of ammuntion and ejects the still hot clip, unknowingly into a pool of oil. He then angrily turns on CT and Maine, claiming they "made him waste ten years of his life". The hot clip ignites the oil, which then causes an explosion. CT and Maine manage to clear the blast radius, but Ark gets pinned under a metal bar, which nearly breaks his leg. The fire is spreading quickly, threatening his life. Maine mentions that they should just leave Ark to burn, but the sniper curses him out and points out the Director would have their heads. CT then reprimands Ark, stating that he put his own selfish wants in front of the mission. Ark angrily exclaims that he survived "this long" without anyone watching his back. CT proceeds to press one of his knives against his throat, saying that he's "apart of the team" now and that he needs to follow accordingly. Ark begrudgingly agrees and Maine frees Ark, and they call for evac. Ark, after boarding the evac pelican, proceeds to remove the Nexus chip. He stares at it before looking at CT and Maine, the former nodding in approval. He then proceeds to step toward the back before it closes and tosses it out. Results The Director, pleased at how the mission ended but also disappointed that Ark destroyed his chip, moves Arkansas up to number ten. In reality, the mission was the first testing of Nexus, a mind-control chip installed in the helmet of an agent. Arkansas proved that it could work, unknowingly performing the Director's orders without objection. York's Legacy Arkansas, along with Nevada, appears during the present section of the prologue, arriving to Carolina's room with Sharon Brown in tow. Ark exhibits surprise when Sharon uses Carolina's real name but waves it off. Ark reminded Carolina to introduce his friend and acknowledges Sharon as York's ex-wife. After Sharon tries to get Carolina to open up, Arkansas jokes that Maine, Texas, North, and Wash would look down on him for doing so. Ark turns when ordered to by Carolina as he prepares to remove his helmet, but takes a small peek out of the corner of his eye. Later, Ark and Nev stand outside the base as Sharon prepares to leave, with Arkansas promising to make sure "Carolina doesn't do anything extreme" and that she can "count on him." He then proceeds to ignore the joking banter between the two women. Arkansas is present during the fight between Carolina and the three agents from Project Valhalla. He venomously asks Tex why Carolina seems to have the fight, and later on exhibits shock that his friend isn't up to par in terms of fighting. After it's over, Ark and Nev rush to Caro's side. The agent asks Ark if he wants to "test out some weapons" later, confusing Ark. Ark later comes by Caro's room to see how he's doing, and humorously asks him if his pressure pad for his door requires a full body slam. Ark offers some jokes on how to deal with York's death, even commenting that he'd seen a "scorpion tank run you over" and that all it did was "make him mad." They link up with Nev and they see him off on his two week vacation. Ark and Nev are later seen commenting on Project Valhalla's weapon, which Ark openly hopes is a rifle, as he "is good with rifles." Nevada claims he's not much good at anything else, implying sexually when questioned just before walking off. Ark chases after her, trying to convince her of otherwise. In his attempt to convince Nevada otherwise, Ark unintentionally angers her to the extent that she could be heard three doors away. Really confused, the sniper is greatful when Sharon knocks on the door, finding an excuse to get away from his angry friend. He opens it to discover Sharon on the other side, who then asks for both of their help after explaining what happened to Katie. She leads them to the hangar where they meet up with Carolina, and Ark questions where Project Valhalla was heading. He then expresses shock at the fact they're going to the planet Carolina had decimated. He joins his teammates and Sharon on the pelican as the widow takes them in pursuit. When the pelican docks with Valhalla's ship, he and everyone else beside Carolina stay behind to guard it. Presumably, the women each kick Ark out of the ship and force him to stand guard outside while they chat inside. He took the worse end of Loki's arrival, dropping to the ground from the shock of the message. The Training Session Sometime after York's Legacy and The Price of Revenge, Ark, alongside CT and Maine, volunteered for a simple training session against South Dakota in a three-on-one fight. The training session was impromptu, with everyone else learning about it after the first round started. When mostly everyone arrived, the first round had began and it was melee oriented. As predicted, the team of three were decimated by South, who managed to secure Ark behind him with one of his pugel sticks. Ark was released and immediately knocked back to the ground, easily defeated by the more fit freelancer. The next round became an unarmed round. The beginning was rocky for the three man team, with Maine often rushing ahead to try and score some hits. CT and Ark attempted coordination and began to attack at the same time, with Maine joining them after a while. South managed to gain the upper hand and knock CT and Maine out of the fight for some time. Ark, on the other hand, managed to keep up with the other man's moves and eventually went on the defensive. Ark's defense irritated South enough to charge into him, slam him against the wall, and attempt to bash his face in with a single punch. Ark managed to move his head out of the way and knee South in the gut, just as Maine arrived to deliver a kick to his back. The three then joined up and went away at the disoriented South, scoring their own point. Officially, they were tied. The weapons round begins afterward, with South easily dominating the trio once again. This brings Ark to remember the moments before the session, with the Director giving them live rounds and a grenade each to "win, no matter what". While he is hesitant to do so, he goes through with it and joins CT and Maine again to try and win. Things don't go too well, with CT getting dominated easily while he took point, leaving Maine and Ark to try and win the round. Ark gives his remaining teammate his grenade and covers him while he goes on to engage South in one on one. Spinning around the pillar to shoot South in the back, he discovers Maine incapacitated, with his fist stuck against the pillar. South tries to get Ark to forfeit, but he denies and engages South alone. Maine manages to break free and tries to knock South out by knocking the pillar CT is stuck in into him, but his target manages to dodge and Ark gets hit instead. South quickly beats Maine down, but not before he chucks his grenade at South. The other agent smoothly steps to the side, letting the grenade sail past and land right in front of Ark's face. It exploded, knocking Ark back. He was immediately carted away by medical personnel. Upon awakening and let to sit up, he is visited by Carolina and Nevada, who are relieved to see he is relatively fine but surprised to see that he is missing an eye and his entire face is bandaged. The sniper exhibits regret for going through with the Director's orders, and is angered when he discovers that he was moved to 6th on the board, replacing Texas. When confronted by Carolina and Nevada, Ark admitted he was hesitant to go through with the orders, but did so anyways for unknown reasons. He still exhibits regret, and remains certain that he doesn't need to be reprimanded by his friends when he already has received "punishment" for his actions. He then requests them to leave so he can think. Mission 0401 Team B New Arrivals Betrayal The Twins The New "Guy" Project Freelancer: Rebirth - Sins of the Past Arkansas appears as the main protaganist of Sins of the Past. Ark arrives on the level of his room and the main hangar of the Mother of Intervention before making his way there, greeting Arizona as she passes. He hesitates when he sees a familiar figure but keeps walking, meeting up with California in the process. They exchange a few words, hinting at a possible mission involving both and they board a pelican. Ark exhibits exhaustion and distress, which California notes. He later awakens from a nap, while California piloted the pelican, to Tau "knocking" on his visor. They converse, and ends with the "female" AI teasing him about his relations with the various female members of Freelancer before Ark is called to the cockpit. He is then heard over the radio by Hades giving him a reason of why they should dock. The pair then meet Ares, Olympus' blood thirsty warrior, and Hades himself, the first lieutenant to Zeus and Poseidon. Managing to bargain with Hades, Ark reveals his trump card: Tau. They are then accepted into the program, given the titles 'Aphrodite' and 'Apollo'. Soon afterward, Arkansas and California underwent the 'brain implants' issued to the other Olympus members. However, due to extreme malfunctions with their medical equipment, the medical staff gave up trying to implant Arkansas, as success would've ended with a major brain injury, or quite possibly death. After he awoke, it turned out that Tau, who was still in his possession, had been the one causing the malfunctions, at Ark's own request. He even goes so far as to say: "I'd rather be dead than a mindless thrall." Ark is soon after caught in the crossfire of an apparent raid by Insurrectionist troops, who were purging the hospital of all staff and destroying information, which Tau confirmed to be connections between Olympus, the Hospital Staff and the Insurrectionists, though she wasn't able to discern who was leading the Innies. Arkansas manage to fight his way to the landing pad, where California had informed him she was waiting with evac. He climbed aboard, only to get blindsided and shot right in his right eye, his only good eye at the time. Bleeding out and woozy, he appeared to have been instantly killed, but was aware that California had removed Tau and left. Presumably, Arkansas managed to scrape himself off the pavement and, barely, make his way to a safehouse that the Director had set up for both California and himself, in case their operation went downhill. From there, he managed to contact an informant of his within Olympus, and tell him that California had succumbed to the brain implant, and to send out the general S.O.S to Project Freelancer. He is attacked again after that, taking a high powered anti-personnel round to the shoulder. He quickly abandons the safehouse, on the move to stay alive. Arkansas finally reveals himself after the team -primarily consisting of New Hampshire, Carolina, Virginia and Maine- sent by the Director links up with California at the City Center he falsely stated he'd be. Wounded and angry, Arkansas refuses to stand down as he points his weapon, an M6G, at California, exclaiming that Cal was the reason everything went downhill. Although the team is torn between with what it should do -Carolina and Virginia both believing Arkansas and Maine and New Hampshire not-, Cal reveals her true colors when she tries to murder them all, before escaping. The five go in pursuit, but due to his injuries, Ark is forced to stay behind with Virginia as a medical transport is called in. The other three pursue Cal without Ark, and the ensuing fight ends with her death, just as the mind control gives out and Cal expresses regret with her actions. After recovering from his injuries, and being outfitted with a second synthetic eye, Arkansas fully debriefs the Director on what occurred, and admits the whole thing was a failure. The Director agrees, but doesn't say it was Ark's own fault, and goes on to point out that in the process, the failure led to a lead. The lead meant the location of Olympus' frigate, the Underworld, and by extention, their main base of operations, Mount Olympus. He then announces plans to assault the frigate, then the base, and informs every agent to get some rest as the Mother of Intervention moved to attack. The main battle plan for the assault meant two teams both landing in seperate hangars and causing as much mayhem as possible in order to distract everyone aboard, while Arkansas himself snuck into the bridge through a small airlock. Upon entering said bridge for the second time, he comes face to face with an old adversary: Elijah Grey. They have some harsh words, with it turning out Grey was 'Poseidon' and that his troops were the ones that assaulted the hospital at the time Ark was in it: "You were expendable then", Grey says before finally attacking. The fight didn't last long, as Ark managed to use Grey's rage against him and blasted him out of one of the windows after puncturing his combat suit, killing him. Following the fight, Ark and Tau reunite, albeit briefly, as the Director announces the launching of an EMP to disable the ship and, hopefully, destroy the base in the process. Due to the fact that the doors were locked after Ark entered, and the windows were closed following decompression, Ark was effectively trapped in the bridge. The EMP wave hit the ship, obliterating Tau and sent the ship plummeting to the surface below, but hit the crossing between beach and ocean. Arkansas was knocked unconscious in the process. Awakening amongst the ruins of the frigate, the Sniper manages to climb out and is recovered by a dropship with it's occupants consisting of Wyoming, New Hampshire and North Dakota, who had picked up on his recovery beacon. As the dropship then goes off to link up with the other two who held the other agents, Ark is informed that a good half of Olympus died in the assault or when the frigate went down. Amongst the dead included Poseidon (whom Ark had personally killed), Hermes (who was decapitated by Nevada with his own blade), Hephaetus (who met his match when both Virginia and West went up against him), and both Hera and Dionysus, who were killed in the crash. The three pelicans land just outside the base, and as for it's name, Olympus was placed on a high mountain. After some basic planning and looking over the overview of the base interior (thanks to Ark's informant), they agree to split into four groups of three, with Ark being partnered with Wyoming and Virginia. The assault began soon after. Ark's team managed to enter without trouble, compared to their counterparts, and managed to make it half way up the mountain before they encountered Hades. Hades himself had his battle attire and angered at the death of Poseidon at Ark's hands, engaged them. Although Hades was a skilled fighter, one of the best, and used his cloak and life drain to their fullest, the trip managed to best him and kill him. After a check in with the other teams, they all made a combined push to the summit, where they confronted Zeus. Zeus, excessively angered by Freelancer's presence the destruction of his "family", went into a rant of how The Director's plan had failed, that kidnapping Griffin just to get Tau was too much, and that there was no guarantee California would kill Arkansas off. As it turned out, Joshua Griffin was kidnapped in order for Olympus to obtain both Tau and California, as Tau was able to get into any system, but as a fragment was able to be changed for a certain purpose, and California due to her lack of real personality making her easy to manipulate. In the end, California would destroy Freelancer from the inside. Zeus then incapacitates a majority of the agents, planning on killing Arkansas last for ruining everything. However, Griffin manages to disarm and wound Zeus to the point where Arkansas can finish him off with a headshot. With the rest of Olympus dead, they are evacuated and Mount Olympus is destroyed by the Mother of Intervention's main gun. Arkansas is present during a meeting between The Olympus Director and an ONI Official, defending Freelancer's claim against Olympus and demonstrating his firm belief in the validility of their destruction. The ONI official relents and grants Freelancer a pardon, much to the OD's disappointment and frustration. Death Following both Alaska and Maine's deaths, Nevada and Arkansas are seperated from Carolina and detained. This does not last long however, as manages to find a way into the sector they're kept and starts an all-out fight, allowing Arkansas to break out of his bonds and subdue the guards before releasing Nevada. In the process, Ark is stabbed in the stomach and shot multiple times in his right leg. Due to his injuries, he orders Nevada to go to and try to link up with Carolina, telling her to "follow the cries of pain". Despite her protests, he shoves her onward, locking the door behind her and engages incoming enemy forces. Ark himself kept in contact with both Carolina and Nevada over his comm unit, revealing his ultimate plan of activating an overload of the power units to ultimately destroy the entire base, and the extent of his wounds. The radio itself picks up heavy panting, loads of gunfire and groans and grunts of pain, which progressively get worse along the way. Eventually, during the climax of the whole fiasco, Ark reports he made it to the power center. He states that with "the condition he's in, he probably won't make it out." Carolina and Nevada are determined to help him, but he denies their assistance as more troopers arrive at the power center and at the hangar, preventing them from going to save him. He then tells them he overloaded the cores and that he'll "find his own way out," but is interrupted halfway through his sentence by a burst of gunfire, forcing Carolina and Nevada to evactuate before the base self-destructed. The base itself explodes soon after, killing everyone inside. Nevada desperately tries to raise Arkansas over the radio, but is met with static. She continues to try and raise him, despite Carolina repeatedly telling her Ark is gone. Nev then breaks down and is comforted by Caro, who himself is crying silently at the loss of his friend. While Nevada and Carolina begin their escape, the Innie leader who is leading forces after them gloats that they'll "use your friends body as an art piece", implying that the base was dug out soon after and Arkansas' body was discovered. Appearance Like all the other agents, Ark's armor is a customized Mk.VI armor with a RECON helmet, EVA shoulders and a recon Mk.VI chest plate. The whole armor is colored a light silver. Following Sins of the Past, and primarily his first Mk.VI armor set was trashed by the end, Arkansas was given a prototype armor set (essentially the Halo: Reach MK.VI variant) that could be customized to his liking. The armor consisted of a new RECON helmet with a UA/HUL3 attachment, a RECON left shoulder, a Sniper right shoulder, a Tactical/Patrol Chest, a wrist mounted Tactical/UGPS, a thigh attached utility of Tactical/Hardcase, with a silver visor and FJ/Para knee guards. The armor is still completely colored silver. Arkansas himself is relatively tall, but comparitively shorter to all the other members of the force (besides Nevada, and West), and is lean, not muscular in any way, shape or form. He has the rather darker skin tone, which is rather obvious when placed next to either Carolina or Nevada, with sage green eyes and auburn hair, which is spiked up a little in the front while the rest is flat. Outside of his armor, Ark tends to wear a t-shirt, camo pants and a combat boots with his dog tags around his neck. He doesn't wear his armor except for training sessions and missions, so it could be seen that Ark is more laid back then others. Following Utahs' death, Ark took his friends dogtags and began wearing them alongside his own, as a way to honor his deceased friend. Parts of Ark's body are marred with the occasional odd scar, each with it's own story. A single scar on the left side of his head is from a gunshot, a trio of scars along his stomach are from violent stabs with a knife, and a scar on his right arm is from where his bone pierced through his skin. He also has a tattoo of a vortex on his back, overlapping over a circle. The circle is colored a steel, while one part of the vortex is red and the other part is blue. Ark simply said, when first asked, that it is a way to remember where he came from. The same symbol is imprinted on his armor's shoulders, and on the right side of his chest piece. Arkansas' left eye is a prosthetic, fake in every way but still gives him the ability to see, and does not seem to hamper his precision. If anything, it helped increase it. Though the reasons around it are vague, he's dropped enough hints to piece together the possibility he was shot in the eye. Following the war with Olympus, Arkansas was given another fake eye after getting his last real one shot out. Personality John tends to be happy-go-lucky, boisterous, and friendly to all but a few of the members of Rebirth. Due to growing up in an orphanage to no real relatives, John views everyone as a potential friend and, as such, often idly talks with them before, during and after missions to get to know them better. This has also made him a bit more perceptive, able to read most emotions and deduce why a certain person feels that way. This has proved to be a double-edged sword, as he is also unable to pick up on subtle hints of possible romantic interests between anyone, whether it be between two people or someone coming onto him. While on the ropic of romance, Arkansas seems to have a dark outlook into it and claims that it is "overrated". He has used several examples in Rebirth itself as an example, ranging from Nevada and her seductiveness toward other men and Alaska, Wyoming and Montana's love triangle. Despite this, he claims that women love accents, most likely because he speaks with a strong british accent. Ark, after developing a strong relationship with someone, becomes extremely loyal and defensive. This tends to provoke him in case someone else he cares about is getting mocked or attempted provoking. Arkansas himself also believes, due to his harsh upbringing, that no one likes it when another stands up for what they believe in, which often leads to himself questioning orders that don't make sense or sound dangerous for everyone, showing a wanting for being different. Despite his overall positive attitude and friendliness, it doesn't mean Ark isn't prone to negative thinking. He is known to have self-confidence issues, ranging from things like his standing in the program or if his skills are up to par with everyone around him. It is noted by Carolina that Ark feels this way because "North and South are farther up on the board". Arkansas is also extremely jealous toward the more stronger members like Alaska, Texas, Maine, and more specifically, Carolina. Primarily caused by their overall larger amount of durability, favorability by the Director (except in Carolina's own case), and their reputations. This does have a positive side though: it drives him to become better in his own right, to try and stand out amongst his freelancer brethren. When it comes to people he dislikes, which is rather rare, John is sarcastic, witty, quick to retort and quite blunt. He tends to openly mock higher, more deadly freelancers like Texas or North Dakota, but they appear to pay no mind to it all. A notable trait of Ark's is his claustrophobia: it was gained due to the really small size of the orphanage he grew up in, as they were often forced to sleep right next to each other, and he often nearly suffocated due to someone moving on him. Because of this, Ark chose to live in one of the multiple hangars, due to the wide open space and no concern of bunking with anyone else. On top of that, Ark has several other phobias: a fear of spiders, bats, snakes, heights, and large bodies of water. Ark is also more emotional than most others, as he often breaks down and sobs, falling to his knees and muttering sadly under his breath that "it wasn't supposed to happen". This is seen when both York and Utah die. Following the events of York's Legacy, Arkansas becomes a little bit more serious and aware, to the point where he could ignore the amount of jokes from Carolina, taunts from Maine, and possible seductiveness from Nevada. However, after Sins of the Past is over, Arkansas suffers a mental breakdown from the severity of the events that impacted him, leading to a temporary discharge to get himself under control. When he returned, Ark is much more serious, self-concerned, and distant to everyone. This has led to the degrading of his positive relationships for his overall attitude. Notably, Arkansas has a lopsided morality. He has no problem killing people, as long as there is a reason and their death serves a purpose, and dislikes it when civillians are caught in the crossfire, and even more so if there are innocent casualties. However, if someone wrongs him to the point of extreme anger, he loses all sense of responsibility with only one thing in mind: revenge. This is portrayed twice, once after California was forced to betray Arkansas, and again when Arkansas discovered the one who was behind Utah's death. Following the joining of Sigma, Arkansas slowly becomes more and more creative, and also devious, with a tendency to pull pranks on his fellows in Rebirth. Skills and Abilities Arkansas is a strong agent, but for different reasons than most. Amongst them are his agility, his skill with a sniper rifle, and almost inhuman focus. This has given him an even edge against more durable and more deadly opponents. Sharpshooting Arkansas maintains intense focus while looking through the scope of a sniper rifle, nearly to the point where it seems time slows down. This allows him to easily pick out numerous targets on a single battlefield and take down the most important ones, giving his teammates enough time to move up and flank the enemy. His situational awareness also applies to his immediate surroundings, allowing him to keep his eye on the scope and also keep an eye on his back. Ark's weapon of choice for long ranged combat is a sniper rifle he built from spare parts. The scope has a unique "variable zoom," allowing him to zoom in and out for farther or closer targets. It holds a total of ten rounds in one clip and has an extra clip tapped to the side, giving it extended and dual magazines. The front barrel of the rifle is also applicable with silencers, giving Ark a large mode of possible engagement modes. Surprisingly, Ark also added a bolt-action to the rifle itself, in spite of it's previous semi-auto ability. Language Fluency Arkansas is, surprisingly, fluent in several languages. Due to Britain's closeness to both Germany and France, Ark knows how to fully speak both languages, and even dawn the required accent. He also speaks a tad of Spanish and Hungarian, but isn't as fluent in these languages as the other two. He also knows Sign Language. Mid/Close-Ranged Combat Arkansas also is skilled in terms of mid-ranged combat, albeit still needs backup to ensure victory. Alongside his sniper rifle, he tends to equip himself with dual SMGs, due to their strength in the above mentioned area. He also tends to pack lightly, so it makes the SMGs a fairly obvious choice. Focus A notable trait the sharpshooter possesses is his focus. They're most likely caused by the speed of his jet boosters, making him used to sudden spins in mid air and "from-the-hip" shooting. He also adapts these abilities to other tactics, often in training sessions to help him out-last most other freelancers. His focus lets him analyze a person's movements, allowing him to plan in advance. Agility and Flexibility Arkansas is incredible agile and flexible, moreso than any other male in the program. He is the best at evasion of physical attacks, and uses this to perform "tick bites" against his opponents. He can also perform flips and easily "phase" around his opponent to get away into breathing room. In fact, the only freelancer who can ultimately keep up with him and bring him down a vast majority of the time is Agent Carolina. If he goes for one on one fights without his fighting style, most members can easily defeat him. Mechanics Ark is also amazingly skilled with mechanics, coming from years of being the odd one out to fix numerous "accidental wrecks" in the orphanage. Eventually, he took to lessons on how to fix and configure items, and became a one of a kind mechanic. He often fixes certain items for other agents, going so far as fixing and recalibrating Maine's brute shots. He also has limited skill in fixing wrecked armor enhancements, and often fixes vehicles in his spare time. Because of this, he took up residence in the Mother of Intervetion's hangar instead of the basic rooms supplied to the agents. His skill is not restricted to fixing items. Ark has constructed his own sniper rifle from the skeletal remains of one of the supplied rifles in the MOI's armory, going so far as increasing the zoom function, making it applicable with a silencer, increasing the amount of ammunition in a clip, adding a bolt and decreasing it's weight. Survivability Due to Ark's own status as a freelancer, he has learned to survive long times on his own or with a partner, making him one of the better choices for long stakeouts. This seems to have leaked into other areas as well, essentially making him harder to kill, as seen at various points in both Project Freelancer: Rebirth and Sins of the Past, as well as upcoming ones. Weaknesses Arkansas is not the most physically strong Freelancer in the program, and is likely to be the weakest in terms of strength and durability. When it comes to most one on one fights, Ark is typically the one to lose. Another weakness, but considerably his largest, is his intelligence. Ark has admitted he missed out on the standard education everyone else seemed to have received during their childhood. As a result, he is not adept with anything involving electronics or code, and depends on others to do so when he is present. His third, and probably the most deadly, weakness Ark has is his tendency to grow attached to someone or something he befriends or thinks highly of. This often leads to him volunteering or performing actions that would more than likely hurt him, or possibly kill him, in the end. Preferred Weapons Sniper Rifle: Arkansas' bread and butter. Primarily used as a primary weapon, but occasionally used as a secondary, he modified it to the point of accepting numerous attachments so he could adapt to any situation. Shotgun: Arkansas often uses an M135 Tactical Shotgun when boarding ships or being assigned to a close quarters mission. Assault Rifle: Used as a backup to his sniper rifle or shotgun, depending on the type of mission assigned. SMG: His second most used weapon, he often dual wields them when also equipped with his sniper rifle. Kukri: A weapon of rememberance from his grandfather, Ark often uses the Kukri when out of ammunition, or engaged in one-on-one close quarters combat. Armor Enhancement Arkansas' armor enhancement was, unlike other freelancers whom had their armor enhancement removable and mostly unseen, built into his armor and a very prominent feature. It was more specifically placed on the back of both shoulders and on the bottom of his boots. The enhancement itself is a Jet Boosters which enable Arkansas to fly and boost himself. The Jet Boosters were based off of old UNSC Jet Pack technology. Because of it's unique design, agents such as Maine and Virginia cannot capture this armor ability. The jets also make Arkansas the best choice for zero gravity missions or locations. The enhancement itself has a unique feature: it's solar powered. While in direct sun exposure, the power decreases and increases simultaneously, meaning power at 100% stays there. While in the dark or at night, the power slowly goes down; at least 2% per minute. Ark often only works day missions, and often drops out of missions requiring darkness and stealth because of this. Arkansas' second armor enhancement is an Advanced Medical Injector. They affectively prevent blood loss, able to stabilize the user with biofoam and other medical supplies. However, they can only heal small to semi-medium wounds, unable to heal larger wounds. However, Ark has acquired, through unknown means, a Dark Matter Convertor, allowing a continuous collection of energy. The energy has been noted as used during night time operations, effectively compensating for Arks' dependance on back-up energy. In reality, because of the working relationship between South Carolina and Arkansas, South gave Ark a secondary generator. After Agent New York's death, his will stated that Arkansas would receive his Overshields. The overshields itself, while proving to be quite an addition to Arkansas' arsenal, normally consumed a lot of suit power. However, due to the presence of a DMC and now Sigma's own addition to Arkansas' armor, the overshields have increased in both durability and have lowered power costs. Artificial Intelligence Arkansas himself is unique, as he possessed an AI long before the Director announced his plans for AI implantation. He managed to keep it hidden for an extended period of time, until the Director found out and helped start a series of events that resulted in it's destruction. The AI itself was Tau, one of the last remaining Alpha fragments from the original program that had been given to Agent California. Tau represented the Alpha's strength, and was given as a gift to Ark from Cal. Tau managed to amplify the strength behind Ark's armor, and helped boost the overall strength of his overshields and the boosts caused by his jet boosters. Afterward, after recovering from the events of SoTP, Arkansas was issued Sigma. They both ended up developing a strong relationship, with Sigma essentially doing the same boosts to his armor enhancements that Tau did. Relationships Project Freelancer: Rebirth Members Arkansas has many notable positive relationships, as well as some notable antagonistic relationships, with fellow agents and the head staff of Rebirth. The Director Although Ark admits the Director always seems to have something up his sleeve, he also believes that he does ultimately care for his agents, despite the clear distrust (borderline hate) between him and Carolina. The Counselor Arkansas is surprisingly comfortable around the Counselor, admittedly sharing secrets that the couldn't share with anyone else with him. California Ark was overviewed by California when he was trying out for the program. Despite how she passed him, she proceeded to mock his rather slim and non-muscular physique, which resulted in a few broken chairs, and a black eye for both parties. A friendship seemed to bloom out of that, alongside mutual respect. His relationship with Cal is often poked fun at, and rumors of a romantic relationship between the two exist. They both deny it, however, and no evidence to support the theory exists. Following her death, it, alongside that of Utah's, Joshua Griffin's, and Tau's own deaths caused Arkansas to suffer a mental breakdown. North Dakota North is the only other person Arkansas absolutely hates, which is odd since North respects him. Arkansas hates him because of his arrogance and the fact that the Director favors him above all others, and the fact that he hates his best friend, Carolina. North, on the other hand, respects Ark for his skill with a sniper rifle and his "standing out" amongst the other agents despite not being on the board. Arkansas, through unknown means, discovered that Utah's death was caused by North. This led to an angry confrontation, ending in North's own death. Maine Both Ark and Maine hate each other to no end, sparking from a simple training session between the two. They continue to mock each other's skill, with Ark saying that Maine's a "bumbling brute with no maneuverability", while Maine calls Ark a "little chicken who can't face anyone in a fair, one on one fight". They both have nicknames for one another, "Annoying Little Prick" for Ark and "Fucking Fishbowl" for Maine. Despite this, they never fight in any way, shape or form and, once, Ark knowingly repaired Maine's brute shots, and even tweaked them to give them an edge. This hints that Ark is a little bit of a softy and doesn't actually hate Maine. Maine is Ark's biggest rival. Eventually, the pair warm up to one another and, much to everyone's surprise, become good friends. This (nearly) gave Carolina and Nevada a "heart attack", as they both knew how well they hated each other. It was all in good humor though. Following Maine's death in the fight with the Cyborg, Ark was, out of the three who had seen it, the most visibly shaken and saddened by Maine dying. However, he puts the emotions aside, knowing that Maine wouldn't want him to mourn too long. Connecticut Arkansas likes Connecticut because of his open and trustworthy personality. He often chats with CT before and after missions, and tries to mantain peace between CT, Carolina, and Maine. It hasn't been very successful so far. The two knowingly butted heads numerous times over the course of a specific mission, to the point that CT openly assaulted Ark, but the two have repaired their relationship following it, though things are still a tad tense. South Carolina Arkansas was initially curious about the aggressive yet secretive agent and personally asked the Director for more information, being denied for the sole reason of him not having any information. Ark, despite the warnings of possible death by the other agents, began his attempts to get to know Caro. After the first few tries, Caro had one thing to say to Ark: "Will you shut up?! You're going to bust my ears!" That was the first milestone of success. Eventually, Ark managed to break through Caro's icy outside and enter Caro's even icier inside, essentially becoming one of his friends. Ark respects Caro, sympathizing about being underestimated (do to the constant mocking of snipers) and takes his advice to heart. He often considers Caro to be an older brother. Ark secretly harbors jealousy toward Caro because of his skills and his reputation, despite the fact the cost for his superiority was almost too great. Ark is occasionally annoyed by Caro's tendency to call him girl names, but knows it's all in good fun. He does, however, tend to "shut his trap" as soon as Caro begins his bit, making Caro the only person who can shut Ark up in more ways then one. Arkansas is extremely loyal to Carolina to the point where he defends him against Alaska, New Hampshire, Maine, North, Montana and Arizona. Washington Arkansas and Washington have had no long term interaction, with no conversation sustained for more than a minute. Wyoming Arkansas and Wyoming get along well, often joking back and forth with some 'very' creative ones off the top of their heads. He does, however, hate being a constant target for Nevada and Wyoming's antics, and personally asked both of them to leave him out of it. South Dakota Ark and South do not talk at all, for various reasons for each. This does not prevent them from working together well enough on missions. Nevada Initially, Nevada and Arkansas did not get along, primarily because the woman couldn't stand the other's attitude, and vice versa. However, his sarcasm and quick wit, combined with his otherwise generally boisterous and friendly persona, eventually rubbed off on Nevada, who took to questioning Ark about his life. They developed a firm friendship, possibly borderline romance. After a falling out over an unknown issue, their friendship seemed to fail and the two refused to speak to one another. Only through the efforts of a couple other friends have they managed to repair it, though things admittedly aren't the same. Although the two have reconciled following their falling out, Arkansas is mildly conflicted about his past feelings for his female friend. Part of him wants to move on, while the other wants to stay with her. This has resulted in humorous and humiliating situations with him when she's around. Eventually, Ark decided to apologize with words and a small gift. He approached Nev alone and gave her a small, gold locket of unknown origin and said "Will you forgive me for being the biggest idiot alive?" Even though she accepted, she pointed out that she was already seeing someone, though Ark is unsure of her being truthful or not, considering how she likes to mess with him. Ark used to occasionally throw in his two cents when Nev and Caro were poking fun at one another, but this has waned and now he has his own way of poking fun. He tends to ignore Nev's own figure and makes sexual jokes about various other women they know, mostly involving both Sharon Brown and Virginia. In turn, she mocks his masculinity. He has grown more annoyed than amused with Nevada's overall seductive nature toward both him and the other male members and confronted her about it. He admits that he "knows his feelings are genuine" and that he "hates having them twisted" before asking her to give him an honest answer when she's ready. At this point, it is unknown if Arkansas still has any romantic interest in Nevada, as he seems to treat her a little less like a friend, though there are many other reasons that could have caused this. Texas Arkansas is notably wary around Texas. He is visibly disgusted by Texas' MO and confrontational personality. He does attempt to "play nice" around him, but often exhibits grated nerves from Texas' teasing toward the other members of the program he's on good terms with. Ark has been noted to get into scuffles occasionally with Texas but nothing too serious. However, Ark eventually challenged Texas to a one on one fist fight. Somehow, the victor was kept secret and Ark and Texas refuse to comment on it. However, when the two are alone, they grin and admit "That was one hell of a fight." This hints that Ark is warming up to Texas. Ark was also shocked when Tex died, surprised that the tank of a man was overwhelmed. Like all the other deaths, Ark was visibly saddened and took a couple days to mourn. Utah Ark considers Utah a good friend, which Utah thinks likewise. Ark is currently the only person who doesn't think degradingly of Utah, which he takes with immense gratitude. In reality, Ark is the object of Utah's affection, but most of his hints and advances go right over Ark's head, to Utah's annoyance and disappointment. They remain a good, steady friendship despite this. Ark once admits that he and Utah are alike in more ways than one, and that he might be his best friend ever. Utah shared this sentiment. Utah's death absolutely devasted Ark to the point of him shutting himself off from everyone. The Director (in an odd show of kindness), gave Ark time off to mourne the death of his friend. He spent much of the time curled up on his cot, eyes closed in remembrance of his good friend, and going over the fact that Utah loved him. Ultimately deciding Utah wouldn't want him to cry over his death, Ark managed to get over it and move on, though he still grows sad when anyone mentions him. Utah's death, alongside that of California, Joshua Griffin, and Tau's own deaths resulted in Arkansas having a mental breakdown. New York Although York and Ark haven't had any long term interaction, Ark respected the family man and found his friendship of Carolina "admirable" and his dedication to everything else "inspiring". He wasn't as devastated as Nevada or Carolina when he died, but he was saddened nonetheless. Virginia Ark likes Virginia. He views her as a friend and often takes her advice to heart. He likes her to the point where he gave her his own little nickname, which really means a lot, even if it doesn't seem like it. Ark, for a time, believed that Virginia was ashamed of her own flat chest, but doesn't have any evidence to back it up so he shelved the idea. West Virginia Ark admittedly doesn't like West. Although he initially tried to be friendly to West, the other agents' persistance to either stay away from Ark or attacking when getting too close eventually made him get fed up. Alaska Alaska and Arkansas don't see eye to eye much, due to Alaska's apparent loyalty to the Director and dislike of Carolina, which is the opposite for the sniper. They rarely have anything to say to each other, and when they do, it's not much. Arkansas does admit that Alaska is a good soldier, and has a large amount of respect for that. They've interacted much more recently, and seemed to have developed a small friendship. Arizona and Montana Arkansas and Arizona hit it off well enough in the beginning, becoming quick friends and allies when needed. They seem to have a more straight forward friendship than he does with Montana. Montana, nicknamed by Ark as "Monty", and Arkansas have a bit of a teasing friendship, often poking fun at one another and trying to scare one another; an example of this is when Arkansas is too focused on something, and Montana sneaks up on him and goes "boo". Ark often retorts with something about "Slenderman". Arkansas has admitted that he likes both, despite their faults, and that they're both attractive, but the fact that there are already guys pining for them makes him decide trying to actually start a relationship with one is not worth it. New Hampshire Arkansas, albeit friendly toward NH, is a little suspicious and distrustful, primarily due to his dislike of Carolina, who is one of Ark's own best friends. He does remain kind, but occasional lets out a subtle insult or challenge, possibly meaning New Hampshire has become a rival of Arkansas'. They have become friends, even to the point of conversing about views of the world. Agent Hawaii Arkansas and Hawaii get along well enough. Sharon Brown Arkansas, when initially hearing that she (a civillian) was allowed on the Mother of Intervention from time to time, was surprised and adament that she keep her distance from "his" hangar. His negative feelings eventually faded upon hearing praise and stories about her from both York and Carolina. He physically met her after York's death, in which they both arrived at Caro's room to comfort him. Although they don't interact much, they are introduced to one another. Following this, Sharon makes sure both he and Nev promise to keep an eye on Caro and help when needed. He sincerely promises his support. Following this interaction, he admits to Nev that Sharon is immensely attractive. Later on, his trust and friendship is demonstrated when he willingly goes along with Nev, Sharon and Caro to save Katie, Sharon's daughter. Katie Brown Arkansas hasn't physically met Katie, but hears stories about her from Caro, and think she's a cool kid. He willingly goes along with Caro and Nev to save her from Project Valhalla and it's Director. Project Valhalla Members Arkansas has yet to physically meet any Valhalla agents, but has heard of them and respects them for the work he's heard them perform. Odin Baldr Frigga Loki Ark's only interaction with Loki so far was during the recent chapter of YL, where Loki actually knocks Ark over out of shock when he uses a megaphone to get their attention. It is judged from his reaction that he finds Loki annoying. Artificial Intelligence Sigma By far the most positive relationship Arkansas has with an AI, Sigma was issued to him during the second implantation group. They often collaborate on many things, mostly pranks and funny ideas to get people back who've messed with him in the past. Omega The only other viewed interaction, Arkansas and Omega seem to, at the very least, tolerate each other. Due to Sigma and Omega often teaming up to torment Theta, Ark seems to understand Omega's mindset and, as a result, seems to have a similar relationship with Montana that Sigma has with Omega. Notable Quotes and Conversations Notes and Trivia *Arkansas' rifle is actually based off the "Intervention" from the series Modern Warfare in Call of Duty. *Arkansas' shoulder jets were actually based off of the zero-gravity system added to the RiG's in the game, Dead Space 2. *His relationship with California is the only blood relation to span two seperate, otherwise unconnected series. *Arkansas' theme song is Another Song About the Weekend by A Day To Remember. **Arkansas' theme in Sins of the Past is "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin *Arkansas has, apparently, never heard of or seen a chicken before, as evidenced by one of his quotes. It could be possible that he was just being sarcastic but with him, you can never tell. **Another demonstration of his lack of common knowledge is his fondness for cookies, but he does not know that they are called cookies. He admittedly just called them "Crumbling Pastries". **Surprisingly, Arkansas knows about various other animals, but comments most about pigeons. It appears he has quite the hatred for them, often reminiscing of times "he slept on park benches and awoke covered in pigeon crap". ***Ark's comments and hatred of pigeons is a reference to a possible DLC companion in Dragon Age: Origins, Shale ***Furthermore, his overall friendly, rebellious and underlying hatred can be placed on par with Anders, a recruitable companion in both Dragon Age: Awakening and Dragon Age II. Also, many of his exclamations and statements seem to be based around Anders' own dialogue. *Similar to Carolina, who tends to quote Commander Shepard from Mass Effect, Ark tends to quote another character from Mass Effect, Garrus Vakarian. *Arkansas' ethnicity was inspired by an employee at RoosterTeeth, Gavin Free. *Due to official information and various profiles about other members of Rebirth, it is possible that Arkansas is either among the handful of younger freelancers, or the youngest. *Arkansas at one point admits that "Ty" isn't his real name, and goes on to say that he doesn't know what his real name is. He does, however, take on the surname "Griffin" following his reunization with his grandfather. *Although it is possible Arkansas managed to survive his wounds sustained by the extensive fighting, his explicit state that "he's too far inside" and the fact the base explodes soon after ensures his death. Category:Project Freelancer: Rebirth Category:York's Legacy Character Category:Sins of the Past Character